Archives for January 2014

Serving at a summer camp is one of the best places a college student can gain life experience and prepare for ministry. At CentriKid, we are blessed to be able to have the very best camp staff around.

I came across this list on another camp blog, but I knew that it fit our program so well, I wanted to share it here. In the original post on the Merri-Mac blog, this is a list of 10 reasons an employer should hire a former camp counselor. You can read more about each one on their site.

A good communicator.

A life-long learner.

A self-starter.

A resilient individual.

A problem solver.

A creative thinker.

A detail-oriented worker.

A leader.

A team player.

A solid work ethic.

CentriKid Camp experience also equips a staffer with tools for sharing the gospel with kids and a great perspective on the wide variety of churches we serve. Our online application and more FAQ’s can be found on our Become a Staffer page. Here’s more information about serving with CentriKid and our heart for kids ministry.

Summer camps are something I’m extremely passionate about, especially after working two summers for CentriKid Camps. I wouldn’t be the person I am today if God hadn’t led me to CentriKid, and I know several people who would say the same. In my experience I’ve found that there are certain things you can do to make the most out of your experience of serving on summer camp staff for any kind of summer camp, and the lessons you learn are lessons you’ll keep with you for the rest of your life. I’m so thankful that God has taught me and so many others these lessons.

1. Preparation begins long before camp does. If you’re working a camp this summer or just considering it, your spiritual preparation begins NOW. I’ve made plenty of mistakes and it usually goes back to the fact that I had not allowed God to fully prepare my heart and mind. I can guarantee that I’m doing it differently this summer, and I encourage all of you to begin praying and searching now, and let God speak into your heart specifically about this summer and the ministry you’ll be doing.

“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” Joshua 1:8

2. Give it your all. At the end of a long day working camp, when you’re barely able to walk, seek God and let Him comfort you. I know I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything in the world, and that’s how God gets me through those days. Give God your all, give the campers your all, and give your fellow staffers your all. Being a camp staffer is one of the few experiences that puts you in the position to serve incredible amounts of people with Christ-like character. Don’t let it go to waste.

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” Malachi 3:10

3. Stop comparing. I have DEFINITELY learned this one the hard way. I’ve struggled with comparing “my” successes with kids to the ones who haven’t really understood what God is trying to teach them and seeing it as a failure. However, that is a completely wrong way to look at things. When a kid accepts Christ, it’s not my success, it’s God’s. My successes are when I commit to follow God no matter what happens with a camper or anyone else. That’s what we all need to remember.

There are many more ways to get the most out of your experience working as a camp staffer, these are just the three that stuck out in my mind. If you want information on working for CentriKid, be sure to check out www.centrikid.com/become-a-staffer!

This is a guest post by Joey Koogler. Joey is a CentriKid Camps staffer, and in 2014 he will be serving as one of our Recreation Leaders.

If your church registered for CentriKid 2014 while you were at camp last summer, you got a Box of Chaos this fall. Here’s Courtney with all the details about what is in your Box of Chaos and how to use it.

Not registered for camp yet? There’s still space at many of our camps, but some are already full or close to full. Register online or give us a call at 1-877-CAMP-123 to reserve your spots. Registration for camp is open all the way up til camp, but after Feb 15th, each spot requires a $50 deposit to reserve it.

When leading a team, it is so important not to create an atmosphere of servant vs. leader, but, instead, to practice servant leadership.

In Mark 10:43-45, Jesus says, “But it must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be a slave to all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life – a ransom for many.”

However, in today’s society, when we hear the word “leader,” we almost always think of someone who is powerful, who is dynamic, and who has it all together. But in this passage of Scripture, Jesus flips it around and tells us something completely opposite. He doesn’t say that who wants to become great should tell everyone else what to do or step on others to get to the top. He tells us that whoever wants to become great must become a servant to all.

So, how does this work? How do we effectively lead while serving? It starts by loving our teammates with the same love Jesus has for us. He didn’t serve out of obligation; He served out of love — a love so strong that He gave His life as “a ransom for many.” When we love those around us, we have their best interest at heart regardless of circumstances. We’re not concerned about how we look or if we get the recognition we deserve, so serving comes naturally because we are focused on the wellbeing of our team as a whole, not just on ourselves. Serving just to serve or to feel like a martyr isn’t the point. When we follow Jesus’ example and serve out of love, we find ourselves satisfied and our team unified.

Examine your heart today and reflect on how you’ve been serving others lately while you read Philippians 2:3-8: “Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage. Instead he emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross.”

Last year one of our CentriKid Directors, Micheal Walley, wrote how to start conversations with kids. His three points were get on their level, be persistent, and be intentional. Read the post to see his explanation of each of those points. To broaden the picture today we are looking at how we best communicate with kids.

At CentriKid we practice speaking to kids on their level physically, as Walley notes to bend down or get on a knee to look a kid in the eye. Going further we see it is also important we are on kids’ levels mentally and emotionally whenever we communicate with them. Every kid is different so getting on their level in this sense of the word takes on a whole new meaning.

Know Their World
Answer these questions before you engage a child. What do I know about their history? What does their family structure look like? Where do they go to school? What do they like? What do they dislike? Never assume you know their world better than they do. If you do not know the answers to these questions, start here.

Engage Their World
Knowing them individually, about what things do you think they want to talk? Here is where you can begin to build a relationship. Engaging their world is easy once you genuinely know their world. The more you engage kids’ worlds increases the likelihood of kids sharing more of their world with you.

Engaging their world means sharing yourself. Yes, sharing your time and energy, but mostly sharing your world with them. Kids want to hear about your life. As a camp counselor I would stack my arm full of bracelets. I let kids know that at any point they could ask me the story of any of my bracelets. Normally they would choose the one that attracted them, so I could share my story and then connect with them over why they chose that bracelet. This is where I saw my biggest opportunities to invest with kids at camp.

Change Their World
We cannot change their world. 1 Corinthians 3 is clear that no one but God provides growth. However, God clearly uses the Christian to make a difference. Plenty of youth development organizations make a difference in kids’ lives. They do this by knowing the kids and engaging them, but they cannot make a change in eternity like our God can. If you really want to invest in kids and change their world. Constantly challenge them with the gospel.